The Tea, a daily online video call-in gossip show from Video Call Center and celebrity news website Wetpaint, has passed the 500,000 viewer milestone in its first month, according to its producers.
According to Video Call Center, the company created by former Sanford Bernstein media analyst Tom Wolzien to showcase his patented technology, more than 100,000 viewers tune into The Tea each week, and citing Wetpaint dwell time statistics, they stay tuned in for significantly longer than typical site visitors. The Tea, available every weekday at 3pm ET on Wetpaint at thetea.tv as well as Facebook Live, uses the Video Call Center’s video caller platform to create a program that enables celebrities, audiences, and hosts to engage in unscripted, unexpected conversation.
The VCC makes it possible to simultaneously connect multiple video callers from around the world—including viewers, celebrities and other guests—via their computers or smartphones and bring them all together in live, broadcast-caliber programs. The show averages more than a dozen on-air remote video callers/contributors per TV half-hour.
VCC puts the host in direct control of the flow of the show and eliminates the requirement for an expensive TV control room, making it possible for video callers to join live programs using any device and a more than a dozen IP video calling services, including Facebook Messenger, Skype, FaceTime and Gruveo (WebRTC).
“Shows like The Tea are using the Video Call Center to fundamentally change what is meant by audience engagement,” said VCC CEO Larry Thaler in a statement. “This is social TV in the truest sense, where the audience has the chance to be on camera and contributing to the conversation. We’re seeing content creators from across the spectrum of entertainment and news re-evaluate how they connect with their audiences thanks to the success of programs like The Tea.”
